The Lines I Cannot Cross
by Erin Faith
Summary: Hermione plans for an exciting summer-she's going to an Advanced Magic school! Draco plans for the same event... But they don't know they're going together. Fighting? Love? Hermione slapping Draco across the face? Why don't you read and find out...
1. The Letter

A/N: I suppose you can call this a Draco/Hermione fic, but there is no romance (yet). And about the title-its one that I've had in my head for a long time, but I never had a story to use it for. I don't really know if this one is appropriate, and I'll change the title if I get struck with a wonderful new idea. (I had to change this a bit, a few spelling errors, thanks Darjani!) 

[Letter from Hermione to Harry]

_Dear Harry, _

Guess what? I'm going to a new school this summer! It's to help me learn more advanced magic, Dumbledore says I should go. It's just me and another from Hogwarts, Dumbledore wouldn't say whom, but I'm downright curious. I really hope its someone I know; I'd be terribly frightened if it wasn't. Dumbledore says that all the wizarding schools are going to be there, like Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and even some more we haven't heard about! Isn't that exciting? I can't wait to tell Ron, I wonder if any of his brothers have gone to this before? The school is called FoxGrove's Manor for Advanced Magic. It sounds really beautiful doesn't it? I can't wait!

Love,

Hermione 

Hermione tied the letter to her owl's leg with shaking hands, and opened the door that led onto the balcony, and let him go. She really hoped the neighbors weren't watching, but if they were she could simply explain that it was going out to get supper. The sky was filled with silver stars, and Hermione lingered at the edge of the balcony before she headed back inside to her room. 

She was going to go to an advanced magic school! It wasn't a waste of her summer, as she was sure Ron would call it. It would surely help her in her schoolwork, and Dumbledore said it would help her decide what career in the wizarding world she would choose. He said that he himself had been to the school. _It must be really wonderful,_ Hermione thought with a smile on her face. Dumbledore had said that you have to be at least sixteen to attend, and Hermione had just had her sixteenth birthday the week before. What a wonderful start to her sixth year at Hogwarts. 

Hermione sighed, turned softly on one foot, and headed back inside to finish packing her bags. She already had enough clothes to last her the entire summer without anything being washed, but she added a few more robes just to be careful. And then she packed her blue dress robe inside, just in case. 

"Hermione! We have to leave at five thirty in the morning! Wouldn't you like to go to bed now?" Her mother's voice called up the stairs to Hermione's room. Hermione smiled and stuck her head out the door, "Yes, Mother!" 

With a smile on her face, Hermione began getting ready for bed, and for the next day that lie ahead of her. 

~*@*~ 

Across the country in Mafloy Manor, Draco Malfoy sat at the edge of his bed, an empty trunk by his feet. He watched his mother sweep around the room, gathering up robes and socks from the drawers of the large dresser and closet that were inside Draco's room. 

"Mother! I can pack for myself, you know," Draco told her, but she paid no attention and kept gathering up clothes and such around the room, and when her hands were full she strode over to where Draco sat, and began packing things in the trunk beside his feet. 

"Honey, I know, but, oh, I'm just so happy for you!" Narcissa said, laying a slender hand on Draco's cheek, causing a strand of hair to fall down onto his face. She smiled softly, and brushed it back. _Poor Draco. I'm so glad he's going to be getting out of the house this summer. Lucius is going on rage about Voldemort's inner circle, and I don't want Draco to join it. But he does. I'm glad Dumbledore is sending him to this FoxGrove School,_ Narcissa thought as she smiled at her son. 

Before Draco could swipe off his mother's hand, she turned and began gathering more clothes. "Draco, would you like me to wash those nice black boxers of yours?" she asked, with her back turned to him to hide her smile. 

"Mother! And if you forget, all of my boxers are black," he said with a slight tinge of color to his pale cheeks, hoping no one around the Manor had heard. He especially didn't want his cousin Angelina to hear; she had been staying with them this summer and was going to Hogwarts with Draco in September. That was all he needed was for Angelina to be spreading rumors about him at Hogwarts. 

But his hopes were smashed as a soft voice came from the doorway. "Well that changes my opinion of you Draco. I always thought you wore briefs," Angelina's voice called. Draco stood up quickly, and with a small glare to his mother, he strode over to the door and was about to snap it shut on Angelina's face, but his father appeared in the doorway right behind her. 

"Draco, are you ready yet?" his father asked with a twinge of irritance in his voice, as if the three of them were doing something that was far more annoying than standing in Draco's room. 

"Ye-" Draco started, but was interrupted by his mother, who was holding a large stack of robes in her hands. 

"No, not quite, Lucius," she said, and gave him a smile before she strode over to Draco's stunk and began folding the robes and stacking them in. 

"Narcissa, you know we have house elves that can do this job," Lucius said, with the same irritance in his cold voice. 

"Oh, I know. I just feel so responsible for our little boy," Narcissa strode over to Draco and gave him a hug, and he rolled his eyes, which made Angelina giggle. He was rather pleased Lucius didn't see him, because he would have gotten a severe lecture about 'Family Honor' and 'Obey your Elders'. 

"Right, well we're leaving for Hogwarts at four, and its already twelve-thirty. Not that Draco needs the sleep, but we wouldn't want him to miss his first day would we?" Lucius said with a hint of something that sounded suspiciously like sarcasm. 

"Right then, I'm going off to bed, Goodnight Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius," Angelina called, giving Lucius a large smile that left no effect on his cold face. She turned right before she marched off and stuck her head in the door, "'Night Draco." 

Lucius watched her retreating figure until she turned to go up a staircase that led to her room. "Is she going with us, Father?" Draco asked, and his father's head swiveled to look at him. 

"Yes, she is, and there's no excuses about it. You can put up with her until we reach Hogwarts," Lucius said, his cold eyes fixed on Draco. 

"Yes, father." 

"Good. Well, I'm off to bed then. Narcissa, you will join me soon?" Lucius asked before he turned the corner to head up to where Draco supposed his and Narcissa's bedroom was. Draco didn't even know where it was, it was hidden, and the Mafloy Manor, like Hogwarts, was very good at moving passageways to keep things hidden. 

"Yes, after I'm finished packing for Draco," she said, and gave Lucius a smile which he didn't return. "Good," was all he said before turning the corner. 

"I'm so proud for you Draco," Narcissa said, packing more things into the already full suitcase. Draco watched her stuffing the jeans into the suitcase, her slender hands folding the clothes smaller. She always preferred the Muggle way to magic, and only used magic if she had to. "Please humor your father tomorrow, Draco, and try not to fight with Angelina, you know how it upsets him," Narcissa said, latching the trunk shut and sitting beside Draco on his bed. 

Draco nodded, and she smiled weakly. "Thanks," she said, and planted a soft kiss on his forehead before exiting the room and turning the corner that Lucius had. "Goodnight, Draco," she called, and her footsteps echoed until they finally went inaudible. 

~*@*~ 

Several hours later, Hermione woke up to Crookshanks jumping onto her stomach; he was chasing a feather that was floating around Hermione's room. 

"Hermione?" she heard her father call to wake her up, his soft knocking on her bedroom door that he always made before entering. 

"I'm up," she called, and she heard her father's footsteps disappear down the steps that led to the living room. 

Hermione carefully moved Crookshanks, and stood up stretching. The sun was barely shining through the curtains, but it was enough to light up Hermione's room. She padded her way over to the dresser, and changed into a red spaghetti strap tanktop and black slacks, a gift outfit from her grandmother for her birthday. She had promised her that she would wear it on her first day to FoxGrove, which had made her grandmother smile. Her grandmother was very supportive of her being a witch, in fact, she bragged to all her neighbors, and was throughly delighted when Hermione had to perform a Memory Charm. It wasn't as if Hermione's parents weren't supportive - of course they were supportive! They just weren't quite as ecstatic as Hermione's grandmother. 

Hermione treaded down the stairs and into the living room, then through the hallway that led to the kitchen. Her nose told her before she entered the kitchen that her mother had prepared quite a big feast. For breakfast that is. 

Hermione pushed open the swing-door and a grin entered upon her face as she saw the interior of the kitchen. Her eyes fell first on the table, where in the center sat stacks of toast; a bowlful of golden scrambled eggs; a plateful of crisp, perfectly brown bacon; a pitcher full of orange juice; another plate filled with muffins; bagels stacked on top of each other on yet another plate; and a jug of milk. But it wasn't the food in the center that made her eyes sparkle. It was who sat around it. Of course, her mother and father sat cheerfully awaiting her arrival, but there were two extra faces and bodies. Hermione blinked twice as she saw them, Harry Potter was sitting beside her father, Harry's green eyes sparkled and he grinned, his white teeth showing in what was a true smile. Harry wasn't the only guest. Ron Weasley sat across the table from Harry, seated next to Hermione's mother, and was grinning as big as Harry, or maybe bigger. 

"What's all this?" Hermione asked when she managed to get her tounge working properly. 

"We thought you might want some company on your long drive," Hermione's father replied, his brown eyes sparkling. "What's wrong, is something wrong? It was your mother's idea," he said when Hermione's smile faded and her lip quivered slightly. 

"Oh, nothing is wrong. I'm just…so happy!" Hermione ran over and gave her father a hug, and then ran over and hugged her mother. 

"I feel left out, don't you Ron?" Harry asked, his eyes darting to Ron, who crossed his arms poutingly. "Yeah, I think we're not wanted," Ron's deepened voice said, a small ounce of hurt in them. 

Hermione grinned and ran over to Ron, and hugged him in an awkward, 'You're-in-the-chair-and-I-have-to-bend-over-this-way-to-get-my-arms-around-you' hug. He quickly pushed back his chair and gave Hermione a true hug, squeezing her tightly so she had to exhale quickly. 

"Oh, stop," he said, pretending to blush. 

"No, seriously, stop," Harry's voice came from across the table, and Hermione grinned and ran over to him, and he hugged her even tighter than Ron, if that was at all possible. He leaned back a bit and her feet left the ground, Harry chuckling at Hermione's giggling screams. He put her back down, and she pulled up a chair at the end of the rectangular table. 

"Mrs. Granger, are you sure you didn't use magic to prepare this?" Ron asked after they had started, Ron had his plate loaded to the brim along with Harry. 

"Well, we won't tell if you won't," Mrs. Granger leaned in to whisper to Ron, whose smile faded but then brightened back up again as he saw the teasing in her eyes. 

"This is wonderful! You wouldn't mind if we moved in would you?" Harry asked, his green eyes sparkling joyously. 

"We could sell out Hermione's room," Hermione's father put in, sending chuckles around the table and a 'Dad!' from Hermione. 

"Just joking, of course," he added with a grin. 

After breakfast Harry and Ron helped carry Hermione's suitcases and owl out to the car with Hermione's father. Mrs. Granger and Hermione were upstairs going through all the drawers and closet, checking for missing items or 'Just-In-Cases'. 

When nearly twenty minutes had passed, the men had put on a badge of courage and had dragged the women out of Hermione's room. They had halfway reached the bottom of the stairs when Hermione screeched out, "Crookshank's food!" And then entire party had to troop downstairs, retrieve the food, and find the cat that had been prowling around previously. 

"Hermione, are you sure you want to take him?" Ron asked, clutching his bleeding arm and trying to tell a 'Hold still! We have to put antibiotics on it!' Mrs. Granger that his arm was fine. 

"Ron, I can't leave him!" 

"I bet you could," Harry mumbled, watching the situation with Hermione's father. The two chuckled for a bit, then decided Ron had been tortured enough and dragged Mrs. Granger out to the car. Ron and Hermione followed. 

But another dilemma awaited out at the car. 

"Dad…you did remember that we had to fit three people and a cat in the backseat didn't you?" 

"Well…of course I remembered…" Mr. Granger mumbled sheepishly as the five stared at the spot in the backseat that might have allowed two five year olds, but three sixteen year olds seemed almost impossible. 

But not quite. After forbidding magic, Mr. Granger had squeezed Ron and Harry in, and had adjused Hermione on Harry's lap with her legs spread across Ron's, and had agreed to allow Crookshanks up front. 

"How long is this trip supposed to be?" Ron asked when the car had started and all the doors were precautiously locked to prevent items from falling out. 

"Three hours," Mr. Granger replied, and held back a grin as three groans arose from the backseat. 

~*@*~ 

"Stop going through my bags!" Draco growled at Angelina, snatching back his duffle and scooting moodily over to the left. 

"Would you two stop acting like you're five?!" Lucius growled in a tone worse than Draco's, his patience all together lost after the first five minutes of the five-hour drive. 

"Why couldn't we have left her home?" Draco asked, sending a glare toward Angelina. 

"We weren't going to leave her at home, Draco. Now both of you shut up, or I'm turning this car right around and you are not going to go to this school, okay?" Lucius turned around and glared at both of them, and the look on his face was enough to shut them up. 

"LUCIUS! WATCH THE ROAD!" Narcissa squealed, and her hand reached out to grab the wheel as they took a dangerous swerve toward the oncoming traffic. Lucius slapped her hand back, and mumbled something that sounded like: "I know what I'm doing." 

Draco felt something land on his right hand as he stared out the window, and turned to find a small piece of paper on it. 

_Look what you've done now. Now your father hates me, and I'm going to have to go home!_

Draco rolled his eyes and grabbed the pen that lay beside Angelina. 

Draco scrawled carelessly and threw the note back. 

He felt it again land on his hand, and he picked it up. It said little again, but was far more amusing than the previous one. _I'm bored. I snatched some records from your room. Think Lucius would let us listen to them?_

Draco grabbed the pen again: _Do you think Lucius would let us dye his hair blue?_

_Got any dye?_

A/N: Well...there you go... the start of my first _long_ fanfic...I have another short one (its far more funny than this or at least I think so...("A Major/Minor Day") It seems like I can only write funny fanfics when I'm writing a serious one to go along with it... So, review, and tell me if you like it or hate it! 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, it wouldn't be on this computer because if I had any money (which I don't) I would hire an illustrator and I would get it published in a beautiful little book. Sounds much better than this sitting here on your bum staring at a computer screen doesn't it? Yeah...too bad I own nothing... 

A/N: This story has been recently updated, so tell me if anything doesn't make sense or is confusing to you (or misspelled or something like that). Thanks to all my reviewers! ; ) 


	2. The Arrival and Departure

Hermione's father and mother were listening to a country station that came in fuzzy, but they didn't seem to mind. They actually wondered why the kids didn't mind, but they didn't know that a magic screen had been put up. Hermione's parents couldn't hear what the three were saying, and the three couldn't hear what the parents were saying. To Mr. and Mrs. Granger, it looked like the three were playing hangman. The three in the backseat could see Mr. and Mrs. Granger doing exactly what they were doing, and so they could turn off the screen if necessary. But so far, it wasn't. 

"I refuse," Ron said, crossing his arms and turning to look out the window. 

"You have to Ron! It's the rules!" Hermione explained, using her hands for emphasis as she sat facing Harry and Ron, sitting on their legs in the middle of the two. 

"Yeah, c'mon Ron," Harry grinned, "I told you!" 

"Harry, I already knew." 

"So? That doesn't count," Ron scrunched up his nose, searching for a better excuse. 

"Ron!" Hermione demanded, and his eyes rose up to look at her. He scowled slightly. 

"Oh, all right. I…I haven't." 

"You haven't? Really? But…Padma…" 

"Yeah, I know what she said, but she lied," Ron said sheepishly, his ears turning red. 

"What about you Hermione?" Harry asked, and Ron looked up at her. 

She glanced at both of them, and started, "Well…you know, actually I…" But she didn't get to finish it as Ron's eyes darted pointedly to behind her and she saw his wand flicker, showing that he had taken off the screening charm. 

"…to stop?" Mr. Granger asked, looking at the three of them in the rearview mirror. 

"What Dad?" Hermione asked, and he repeated, "Do you guys want to stop anywhere before we head into the mountains?" 

They exchanged glances, and Hermione said, "No, we're fine." 

"Okay. And I really don't want you guys to use magic, if that's all right," he said, and grinned as the three of them avoided his eyes. 

"Sorry," Harry apologized. 

"Really…what was so private that your mother and I couldn't hear?" 

"Oh, it wasn't that. It was the music," Ron said with a grin, which made everyone chuckle. 

~*@*~ 

_G U __ L L __ __ __ __ E _

I really, really, don't know. C? 

Draco grinned as he read Angelina's guess. 

_No C. All you've got left is your hand._

He threw the paper back to her. She frowned as she read his reply. She began to scribble something onto the paper, and tossed it back. Draco read: 

_I don't know! Is it something perverted and gross that I don't know because I shouldn't?_

He scribbled: 

_Not unless you call the French Revolution gross and perverted._

She bit the pen thoughtfully and gazed at the ceiling as she thought. She began to write: 

_Does it have anything to do with killing?_

Draco rolled his gray eyes again at her question. And wrote: 

_Boy aren't you smart. Stop cheating and guess a letter!_

He tossed the paper back to her and she smirked and wrote: 

_G U I L L O T I N E_

Draco read her answer and frowned. Then he wrote: 

_Gee, and it only took you like, what? Half an hour?_

He was about to pass the note back to her when Lucius's sharp voice came from the front seat, "Give me the note, Draco." 

Draco shrugged and passed the note into his father's waiting hand. Draco glanced over at Angelina and saw her sitting very rigid. He whispered, "What's there to be afraid about? We were only playing hangman." 

Lucius finished reading and crumpled the note up. They both awaited for his answer, and he kept them in suspense until he finally said, "I don't want you to talk about the French Revolution in such a humorous way. It is not humorous." 

Draco and Angelina exchanged confused glances. Their trip went back to being silence. 

~*@*~ 

Hermione, Ron, and Harry had fallen asleep and were awoken when Hermione's father stopped the car abruptly. When their eyes refocused they saw Mr. Granger gazing down at a map, the one that Dumbledore had sent with the owl containing the news and information about FoxGrove. 

"This is Hogwarts?" Mr. Weasley asked, his eyes taking in the small houses that sat beside the car. It took Hermione a minute to realize where they were. 

"Oh! No, this isn't Hogwarts. This is Hogsmeade. You can't get to Hogwarts by car, Dad," Hermione explained, and her father gave a nod that said, 'I have no idea what you are talking about but I will pretend I do'. 

"Should we unload then?" he asked, his hand resting on the doorhandle. 

"Yes," Hermione said, and her father got out of the car, and her mother followed suit, one hand clasped around Crookshanks's collar. 

Harry reached over sideways and pulled the doorhandle, and the three came tumbling out of the car in a pile of arms, legs, and suitcases. 

Ten minutes later, when each person was carrying at least a suitcase, they headed off to the Hogsmeade/Hogwarts trail, led by Hermione, Harry, and Ron. They had gotten about ten feet onto the trail when Ron turned and pointed to a carriage to their left. 

"Do you think that's for us?" he asked cautiously after looking around and seeing no one else. 

"Let's ask," Harry said, and strode over to the man who was sitting beside it, watching the five amusedly. 

"Is this for Hermione Granger?" he asked, and the man stood up, smiling and awkwardly shook Harry's hand (Harry was carrying two suitcases and a bag of cat food). "Yep," he said. The other four came running up and with the help of the man; all Hermione's luggage was stowed into the carriage along with the three Grangers, Ron, and Harry. 

They finally reached Hogwarts, with Mr. and Mrs. Granger staring fixedly out the window. When the carriage stopped, and they had all gotten out, Albus Dumbledore was watching them from the top step of Hogwarts. 

He came down the steps when he saw that they had seen him, and before anyone could unload anything, he said, "Leave it here, I'll have someone take it beforehand," with a smile on his face. "Oh! You don't know who I am do you?" he asked the Grangers, who shook their heads shyly. "Albus Dumbledore," he said, sticking out his hand, and both of them shook it in turn. "Headmaster of Hogwarts." 

"Right then, let's get up on to the school to meet your companion," Dumbledore said, and turned and marched right back up the steps again, the five following him rather awkwardly. 

~*@*~ 

Draco sat sprawled in a chair in Dumbledore's office, his mother and father to his left, Angelina to his right. She had her legs crossed and her hands resting on her kneecap, and her right foot was jingling impatiently as she looked around Dumbledore's office. 

"_Sit up_," Draco's mother hissed into his ear, and he gave her a look that clearly said 'I don't want to', but when he saw his father's face he straightened up with a quick roll of his eyes. 

Fawkes sat on a perch near Dumbledore's desk, its scarlet feathers reflecting the light in a sort of awe. Draco turned his head and saw his father glaring at the pheonix, and his mother was gazing at her fingernails. Angelina was re-straightening her skirt, and turned her head when she saw Draco watching her. She was about to ask him something, but all four of their heads' snapped to look at the door when they heard approaching footsteps. 

A second later Dumbledore walked in, followed closely by a man and a woman that Draco could have sworn he had seen before, and knew it was true as soon as Hermione Granger followed them. He would've been more angered and surprised if he had seen Ron and Harry, but he hadn't as he and Hermione were both gazing at each other in awe-struck looks. 

Draco and Hermione's heads' simultaneously swivled over to look at Dumbledore, who was looking highly amused. "Sit," he said, and gestured to the five seats next to the Mafloys, on Angelina's other side. Ron and Harry both jumped at the chance to sit next to Angelina, but Ron beat Harry to it, and got himself a very frightening glare. Hermione sat on Harry's other side, and Mr. and Mrs. Granger sat next to her. 

All eyes were fixed on Dumbledore, and he began to speak. "I suppose the two of you," he stared pointedly at Hermione and Draco, "are wondering what the other is doing here. And, please don't throw the chair that you are sitting on, but your suspicions are correct. You are both going to FoxGrove." At this point Lucius got up out of his chair in rage, but was seated back down by Dumbledore with a stare and, "I am not finished yet, Lucius. 

"Now. All of you are very aware that Hermione and Draco will be spending their summer at FoxGrove, unless of course the rare occasion that they will have taken ill and have to be sent home, or something of the sort. Nothing, Mr. Malfoy, you say will change the matter, the choices are final. And unless you both strongly disagree on the matter, and all ends in war, the two will be heading to FoxGrove in a half an hour by way of Portkey. 

"Thus ends my speech, and I will give you approximately ten minutes to socialize, and then we will say our goodbyes and send the two off to FoxGrove," and with this, Dumbledore left the room. 

Silence remained for about ten seconds; then Lucius stood up and began to rant to Draco and Narcissa. The remaining six exchanged glances and began talking amongst themselves. 

"So…you're Draco's cousin, right?" Ron asked for about the fifteenth time, with Harry standing near with a grin spread across his face. 

"Yes." 

"And…you know secrets about him?" 

"Tha-" Angelina started, but got cut off as Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him and began to whisper furiously in her ear, eyeing Harry and Ron the whole time. They both eased closer to Draco, their nerves riled and ready to fight, but he let go of Angelina and turned back to his parents. 

"What was that…?" Harry asked, and Angelina shrugged. 

"Draco just reminded me of how much he hated you. And if I tell you anything he'll make sure that I shall never live through my year at Hogwarts." 

"You're going to Hogwarts?" 

"Yes. Just for one year, though." 

"What year are you in?" Ron asked, his hopes soaring but his face just showed curiosity. 

"Sixth," Angelina said, and Ron and Harry both breathed a very audible sigh of relief. They were about to say more, but their attention was caught when Hermione let out a very large sob, and fell into her mother's arms, streams of tears running down both their faces. 

Before they could return to their conversation, Dumbledore re-entered the room, carrying a sculpture of a fox molded by clay. The fox sat next to a large foxglove plant, and both were slightly swaying, or maybe it was just the clever sculpting. "Have you made your goodbyes?" he asked, eyeing Hermione's streaming face. 

"Give us a minute," Harry asked, and Dumbledore nodded sympatheticly. Harry and Ron rushed over to Hermione, who came toward them with a fresh stream of tears. 

"Oh, Ron," she cried, and threw herself into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. He awkwardly patted her back, a small smile on his face. "Ron, I'm going to miss you so much!" she said when she drew back, her lower lip trembling. 

"Why? I'll write you everyday," he replied with a smile on his face. She smiled and weakly turned to Harry. 

She threw her arms around him, and he laid his head on top of her hair. She was sobbing into his shoulder, just like she had for Ron, but there wasn't a smile on Harry's face. His face was poker-faced, like Draco's usually was, but it was strange on Harry. Before she drew back, he whispered into her ear, "Hermione, I'm gonna miss you so much, I can't even think about it, but I want you to have the best time you possibly can have. Promise me you will." 

When she drew back she nodded, and her face broke into a smile along with his. She blinked back tears, and then she leaned forward, and on tippy toes, planted a kiss on Harry's cheek. She turned and did the same to Ron, who had a strange expression on his face. 

Then Hermione turned and gave one last hug to her parents, and was wiping her eyes with a hankerchief as she made her way over to where Draco and Dumbledore were standing. The Mafloys and Angelina had been watching the goodbyes of the Grangers, and Narcissa had an almost longing look on her face before they turned to face Dumbledore. 

"Well then, I suppose you should go," he said to Draco and Hermione. Hermione wasn't paying attention to Draco, but he was eyeing her with something mixed between anger and curiosity. "Please lay your hand on the statue on the count of three, and you'll find yourself at FoxGrove. Someone should be there to meet you. Her name is Professor Laurel. She'll show you around and take you to your proper setting each day. Enough of me, one…two…" Hermione gave her parents and Ron and Harry one last glance, "three." 

Hermione and Draco both lay their hands on top of the statue, Draco's resting on the foxglove and Hermione's resting of the fox's head, and second later they both felt a familiar pulling behind their navel and disappeared. 

A/N: For those of you who are still reading - WAHAHAHA! I'm still working on the looks and such of the school, but expect more soon. (Or my definition of soon, I don't know if it is quite the same as yours!) Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review! 

A/N: Again, I've re-updated, and same goes as last chapter. See anything confusing or misspelled, tell me in my review or e-mail me! I appreciate it more than you think! Go ahead and flame, but don't flame again if I make fun of you! ; P 


	3. Castles, Fights, and Tapestries

Summary: Hermione and Draco are going to an advanced Magic school, they're enemies (as you know) so things might get a little...awkward... They've just left Hogwarts via portkey and are arriving at FoxGrove... 

Hermione realized, with a slight exhale of breath, that they called it FoxGrove's Manor for a reason. There was definitely a difference between Hogwarts and FoxGrove; she could tell this even without standing up from where she had fallen due to the Portkey. Hogwarts had more of a studious aura, but this, this was more homely. She fell in love with it at once, in spite of the fact that she had not stepped inside and that she had been gazing at it for only ten seconds. She smiled and stood up, brushing grass off of the back of her pants. 

She shifted her gaze from the castle to look at the surrounding area, and found it breathtaking, but not quite as lovely as the castle itself. Vast mountains with snowcapped tops sat west of the castle, and to the east was a widespread forest, with birds and squirrels dancing around the edge. She glanced back to the mountains, and saw that, very distant, was a waterfall, cascading from the side of a jutted out piece of land. As she watched, a small puff of smoke rose from a small cave on the side. _Dragons?_ She mused, bringing a small smile onto her lips. 

She turned back around, and saw that several other students, mostly girls, were taken over by the castle and terrain the same way Hermione had been. They also gazed around with dreamy eyes and slight half-smiles. Hermione's gaze was interrupted very rudely as someone stepped right into her point of view, with a scowl on his face. 

"Are you done day-dreaming?" a drawling voice, belonging to the scowling owner, asked Hermione. 

"Don't you - " Hermione started, but was interrupted yet again, but thankfully this time, by a clap and a gasp somewhere on the right of the two glaring students. 

They both jerked their heads over to look at the owner of the noise, and their eyes fell upon a tall, young woman with silky blonde hair and rather deep blue eyes who was striding toward them quickly. When she reached them she said in a voice that was almost as silky as her hair, 

"Welcome! You must be the two students Dumbledore was talking about. Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy I presume?" she smiled when she saw the confused looks on their faces and continued: "Professor Laurel, the one and only of professor Transfiguration at FoxGrove. You'll want to go in the castle and to your sleeping places, but first we must go to dinner and meet up with the lovely headmistress. Now, if you'll follow me," she gave them a smile, and began to stride toward the castle. 

Draco followed her pace easily, but Hermione had trouble keeping up with them and ended up jogging most of the way. It wasn't that her legs weren't long - they were long, but she wasn't used to having to stride them that far for what they called walking. 

Laurel led them up a set of marble stairs and to huge doors that were apparently made of a stronger marble. Hermione looked up at them, and up, and up… They were about three times as tall as Hagrid, and the two of them put together were five times as wide. Laurel had no trouble opening them, she merely touched them and they swung open, leading the three of them into a room that made Hermione's stomach drop. 

It was evidently the Entrance Hall, but it was so different from the one at Hogwarts. Hermione felt herself as being tiny in this room that was so tall she could barely make out the paintings on the ceiling. It was silent, except for their footsteps that echoed off the walls, making Hermione feel as if they were making far too much racket for being so small. 

The portraits on the wall were of lovely people, men with shining teeth and perfect hair; women with faces that looked like angels, and figures that looked as though the poor things starved themselves, even those that sat around tables full of delicious meals. The sight of the food made Hermione realize how hungry she was, and she prayed that her stomach didn't growl because she might die of embarrasment in front of the beautiful Professor. 

Even Draco was amazed by the beauty of the place, though he didn't dare say so. He kept his face straight, but out of the corner of his eye he was examining the pictures of beautiful women that were no doubt veela, and of the men with muscles that were tracing lines in their robes. The Malfoy's house was extraodinary, but it couldn't even look this castle in the face. And the size! Draco couldn't believe how small he felt, how unimportant to the perfect floors and giant walls. 

They followed the Professor up to another set of doors, though not as large as the first, which were at the end of the entrance hall. She reached out and touched the doors, and they swung open without any of her strength. They swung open to reveal yet another giant room, but this one was not quite as empty as the first. In fact, it was the opposite. This room had circular glass tables, around which sat students of every sort. Hermione saw the familiar robes and faces of the French students, although, she saw when she looked at the faces, minus Fleur. 

Professor Laurel led them over to a table off to the right side, one that had students that Hermione didn't recognize. Laurel gestured for Hermione and Draco to sit down, which they did. Laurel then left, weaving through the tables up to a very large one where a number of important looking people sat. Hermione guessed that must be the Professor's table. 

"I'm Matt," came a voice that had an accent, and Hermione looked to see where it was coming from, and a boy diagonal to her was gazing at her with a shy look. He had his hand stuck out, over the table, and Hermione assumed she was supposed to shake it. She did so, with a cheerful, "Hermione Granger." 

This seemed to perk up the students, and soon she had shaken every hand at the table, even if she didn't remember names, they seemed satisfied. "We're from Elvton," said the first boy with a nod of his head. "It's in Australia," he said with a grin, and Hermione smiled as she placed his accent under 'Aussie'. 

"Well, I'm from Hogwarts," Hermione said, and they nodded their heads appreciatively. 

"You had the Triwizard a while back, right?" came a voice from a girl with dark brown hair and shining brown eyes. 

Hermione nodded. "My friend was in it." 

"Really? Who was your friend?" asked another girl. She had blondish hair and rather green eyes. 

"Harry Potter," she explained, and a lot of gasps came from the table, and several students actually turned from other tables to see the cause of the commotion. Hermione would have seen Draco's annoyed look, but she was too busy watching the blonde girl who was pelting her with questions. 

"Is he your boyfriend?" 

"What? No!" Hermione exclaimed, and glared at Draco as he snorted loudly. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, gazing at the table of excited students with a nonchalant look. 

"Oh… Does he have a girlfriend?" the girl's eyes lit up, and Hermione hid a smile. 

"No, not that I know of." 

"How close of friends are you?" "Have you ever kissed him?" "Does he let you look at his scar?" "Is he actually as good in Quiddich as the magazines say?" "Does he send you letters?" were all shot at Hermione at the same time, but luckily they were all distracted from hearing answers as a witch had stood up in front of the gathering of students and cleared her throat loudly. 

All heads turned to look at her and she began to speak. "Welcome to FoxGrove's Manor of Advanced Magic! I am your headmistress, and you shall call me Professor Shelton. If you don't already know, you are all here because your headmaster, or headmistress has sent me a letter promising that you are all qualified to take his summer class. Now, I expect you to fulfill that promise over the course of these next two months. We have a set of rules, and I expect each and every one of you to follow them. They are as following: 

"One: Magic will be practiced constantly for improving, because I fail to believe that all of you are perfect in every class. If you are higher than another is I expect you to go to that other and help them. If anyone fails," she glanced around at them as if daring them to fail, "everyone will receive the failing grade. No matter if they aren't in your school, or you don't know them. Get to know them and start helping. Communication is one of the standards of this school. 

"Two: You will treat this school with respect. You will respect your teachers, and you will respect the land around this school. You will take care of the room you are sleeping in, and every morning there will be an inspection. If your room is not clean, and if your bed is not made, your grades will drop. Do what you need to, stick paper to the top of your canopy to remind you to clean, tie a string around your finger, or put a spell on the door that won't let you leave until the room is in order. I don't care what you do as long as this castle is kept stainless while you are here. 

"Three: Tardiness is prohibited. You will arrive for breakfast during breakfast time, you will go to your classes when they begin, and you will eat when it is time to eat. You will be where you are directed to go always. The only exception is for weekends, when there are no classes. There will be no sneaking into the forbidden rooms, because I warn you now, we know constantly where you are. 

"Four: Animals are allowed in your rooms, but no where else in the castle. They are allowed outside, but we are not responsible for them. You brought them; you take care of them. If however, your animal takes sick, bring it to the Care of Magical Creatures Professor and he will try and help it as much as he can. I warn you that if you have a highly dangerous animal and if it injures you or someone else, we will not take responsibility. We will treat you as much as we can in our hospital wing, and if still you cannot be fixed, we will take you to a wizard hospital, but we will have nothing to do with legal actions. 

"Five: You will obey all the other rules, and this one. This one is short and cut right to the point. It is the following phrase: Honesty is the best policy. 

"And that concludes our rules, each of them is written on the back of these sheets," and before each person sat a sheet that could not be ripped, Hermione soon found out as Matt began tugging on the corners of his, "that, on the other side have a map of FoxGrove and the surrounding land. The boundries are where the red lines are, and the forbidden rooms are the ones marked in blue. A small key at the corner will tell you each Professor's office, and your room. While you examine those, let us begin the feast!" she concluded and sat down. Hermione didn't notice this however; she was examining the map. It looked like a new and improved Mauraders Map, but without the dots and labels of people. At the top of the Map, before the actual picture began, was the name: _Granger, Hermione J._, colored purple. And down on one side of the map was a room that was colored purple. Hermione assumed it was hers. 

No one noticed that food had appeared on the table, everyone was examining their maps. The first person to notice, a few minutes later, that there was food on the table was Matt, and he began piling his plate high. The clatter of forks seemed to echo through the hall soon after, and everyone began eating. 

Draco however, was not. He was still gazing at his map with a rather amused look. _Malfoy, Draco L._ was written at the top in green. Draco's eyes lowered to the actual map, and saw that there was a room outlined in green, and he guessed that it was his. His eyes wandered off the paper, and saw Hermione's lying forgotten beside her plate. _Purple_, he mused, _Granger's got purple. J? I wonder what her middle name is…it starts with J?_ A hand covered the paper, interrupting his thoughts. He looked up and saw Hermione's light brown eyes glaring at him. He put on a scowl, and heard Hermione speak. 

"Don't you dare do anything to my room Malfoy, and I warn you to stay away from me this whole trip. I really could care less that you're here, because you probably just got in by bribery. Or everyone was afraid of your father, and he payed your way in," Hermione glared, and the eyes of the surrounding students fell on her and Draco. 

"Is Malfoy his first name?" asked the blonde, and everyone's eyes swivled over to look at her, and she blushed. "Well, is it?" 

"No," Hermione said, and her eyes moved to glare at Draco, "his first name is Draco." 

"Why do you call him by his last name?" asked the blonde, and again all eyes were on her. "If he's your friend, why don't you call him by his first name?" Several people goggled at her, and she gave them a 'What?' look. 

"He is not my friend. Malfoy doesn't have any friends. People just pretend they like him because they are in constant fear of his father killing off their family. I don't blame them, who could be Malfoy's friend? He's too much like his father," she spat, and Draco's lip curled and his mouth opened to retort, but his words were drowned out by the Headmistress, who had stood up and was talking loudly to the students. 

If the students around Hermione and Draco's table had listened, they would have heard a speech similar to this: "Well, that concludes our meal, and your first day. I expect to see you all here bright and early at seven, tomorrow. Classes begin at eight, and your class schedule should be in your room. I wish you luck finding your way around FoxGrove, and if you get lost or confused, find me or one of your Professors, we would be glad to help you. Sleep well!" They would've noticed her leaving the room, and the students slowly draining out, but they hadn't, and Draco and Hermione were oblivious to everyone and everything, because this had happened right after the Headmistress stopped speaking. 

Hermione had stood up and slapped Draco smartly across his face, and he had pushed her backward into the glass table, where he was hovering over her, hissing words that were too soft to be heard by the crowd. Hermione could hear perfectly well, and her tone was matching Draco's, the tone that made the bystanders back away cautiously. 

"How _dare_ you insult the Malfoy name, where you have none whatsoever. You think you can just march in, a little Mudblood, and offence my father? He has more power than you can even _think_ of, and a simple word can get you thrown out of Hogwarts," Draco spat at her, knowing that half of what he said wasn't true - but that didn't matter. He wasn't quite sure why he was defending his father, but words kept spilling out of his mouth before he could stop them. 

"That's not true," Hermione whispered, interrupting him. He lowered his face to look at her, his glare penetrating into her eyes. They were so close that Hermione could feel his breath against her face, and could feel his chest rising and falling as he breathed. 

"You think it's not?" he asked, hissing words into her face, making her shut her eyes, but only for a second. 

"Dumbledore is much higher than your father, or I would've been gone a long time ago. Your father only _holds_ power, Malfoy, he doesn't make it. If your father got thrown out of the Ministry, your life would be in shambles and everyone would laugh at your family name. I know I would," Hermione stared up into Draco's cold face. She thought she saw something flicker across it, but she must have imagined it, because his face had gone as cold as ever. 

"You only got here because Dumbledore is a Mudblood lover - " 

"And _you_ only got here because of your father. I came on talent, because Dumbledore favors no one," Hermione inturrupted, her face becoming as cold as Draco's. 

"He favors Potter," Draco said before he could stop himself, and bit his tounge. His mouth almost puckered because of the taste of blood, but he held his expression and swallowed, thinking of things beside the blood, which wasn't quite that hard. 

"You're jealous?" Hermione asked, and a smile came to her icy face. "You're jealous because Harry is famous, and you're only a name that everyone fears? You're jealous because he took down your father's Ma - " Hermione was interrupted as Draco was pulled off of her abruptly, and a pair of cold blue eyes were staring at her, framed by a pale face and long golden hair. Hermione found herself looking at a very angry Laurel, with hands on her slender hips. 

"Get off the table, Granger," she commanded, ice raging through her voice. Hermione straightened up immediately, her coldness gone from her eyes, which were now very wide and very nervous. The ones that had been watching scattered and left the room that had been teeming with people, empty. Except for the three that stood beside the table that had previously been occupied by the Hogwarts and Elvton students. 

"I am very disappointed in both of you," she whispered, and stared at the floor. "When Dumbledore owled me, he said that you were very good at magic, but he didn't say that you would act like five year olds." She raised her eyes to look at Hermione and Draco, and whispered, "if anything like this ever happens again, you will be thrown out of FoxGrove. Do you understand?" 

Hermione swallowed and nodded, staring at her feet. Laurel moved her gaze over to Draco, her eyes asking the simple question, and he whispered, "Yes." 

"Good. I'm going to take you to your sleeping quarters, as you seem not to be able to handle things yourself. Give me your maps," she commanded, and Hermione and Draco reached behind them to the table and grabbed their forgotton maps and thrust them into Laurel's extended hand. 

"Hermione first," Laurel said after examining the maps. She turned and began to walk toward the giant doors that were the exit of the room. She didn't stride, but she didn't walk slowly - she just walked a normal pace. Hermione was hit with a pang of guilt and she examined the floor. 

They walked through the huge doors that led them into the Entrance Hall. It had once seemed beautiful and enchanting, but now it was just plain. It's magic was gone, and the beauty seemed to melt away as they walked through it, cross and angry with each other. The pictures on the walls even seemed to droop, the lovely women now seemed normal, and not quite so gorgeous, and the men seemed to be ordinary; their muscles were normal sized and weren't amazing any more. 

Hermione still felt small, and if possible she felt even smaller. Her head was drooped and she was watching her feet as they carried her after Laurel and Draco, not knowing how they could go on, but they did. They followed the Professor until halfway through the hall, where they stopped after Draco's before them. It was then Hermione glanced up, and her eyes fell upon what the other two were gazing at. 

A staircase made of marble, like everything else it seemed, rose up from the side of the corridor, separated into two parts at a portrait of an angel, and continued on in different directions; one going north and another south. Laurel apparently decided they had looked at it long enough and without another word she began walking to and up the staircase. Hermione and Draco quickly ran to keep up with her and they ascended the staircase after her. 

Hermione reached out, put a hand on the railing to steady herself, and blinked as she felt the soft, polished surface of the rock. It was unusually very cold; she hadn't expected it to be that cold, it was almost freezing. She drew her hand back but continued up the stairs after Draco and Laurel. 

At the portrait of the radiant angel, they turned left, and went up a similar set of stairs. Hermione glanced over the railing and saw the drop to the giant room below them; it was at least twenty feet. Hermione's gaze was broken as she ran into Draco; he apparently had stopped, and she hadn't realized it because she was looking over the railing. He turned and gave her a quick, icy glare before turning around and looking at Laurel again. Laurel had too stopped and she was gazing at the map, because ahead of her were three passageways, one right, one left, and one straight ahead. 

She appeared to have made up her mind and continued silently on, through the right passageway that led into a corridor full of tapestries. 

Draco (you've been wondering about him haven't you? Haha!) hadn't said a word since the fight, and wasn't prepared to say one yet. He was rather preoccupied by the tapestries hanging from the ceiling; they were of people more wonderful than the pictures in the Entrance Hall were. Perhaps it was because the people in the tapestries were younger than the ones in the portraits, or perhaps it was the uncanny resemblance between Hermione and one of the younger ladies. 

Each of the tapestry scenes held a girl, though in some she was hidden in a crowd of people, she was still there. Her shining bushy yet curly brown hair reflected light, and her brown eyes shone with joy as she laughed with others, or simply smiled. As Draco looked on, there was no doubt she looked like Hermione. In fact, if it was possible, it was though someone had taken Hermione and put her in the picture instead of the girl. 

As they continued down the corridor, the tapestries changed to show the girl bigger, and more round; she was pregnant. She stood beside a man with shimmering light brown hair and glowing blue eyes, and they were usually surrounded by many people; laughing and smiling, touching the woman's stomach and laughing when their hand was kicked by the baby inside. 

And then the tapestries held the girl again, she was thinner, and a little baby was cradled in her arms. The man was still beside her; his eyes were brimming with tears of joy as they both looked at the baby in her arms with smiles on their faces. 

The tapestries continued to show the girl, who was now a woman, looking obviously older, and the baby was missing; a little girl clutched the woman's side and they laughed, pleased with something. The man was missing from the picture however, but the two didn't appear to be disheveled. Draco supposed he probably was just out hunting maybe, and that he would return to the scenes later. 

But as Draco saw more tapestries stood down the line, he realized the man was not in any of them. The woman grew old, the girl grew bigger, and when the little girl grew to the age of five, the pictures ended. The last one was of the little girl hovering beside a bed where the woman lay, clutching the hand of the girl. The girl appeared confused, her bushy-haired head was tilted to the left, and her mouth was slightly open, and her eyes wide. A man stood in the door, but it wasn't the man that was in the previous tapestries. This man had shining blonde hair, with eyes of light blue. His body was thin and wiry, not broad like the other man. Draco's mind filled with questions, curiousity, and confusion, but before he could make anything of the tapestries, Laurel stopped. 

A/N: Guess what..I've re-posted this chapter, too! Nothing major is missing for any of the three, I've just fixed a few errors, like grammar and spelling. I'll leave these "Thanks" up, incase you want to read them. I do need a beta, but don't expect to have the stories e-mailed to you at a regular basis. If I get inspired I'll write, and that's just about it, so the beta has to be very patient. Anyway, if anyone is still interested, e-mail me with the title "Beta for TLICC" on the subject line. Thanks for reading! 

Thanks-  


Nykto: for the first review! 

Darjani: for the spelling fix (I don't think I've fixed it yet though) and for your correction of the computer (you got me laughing). 

Indiana jones and rei: I (obviously) love D/H fics too! 

Paradoxical Goddess: I was hoping someone would tell me it was well written! Thanks! 

The Cat: Yes, the Draco in boxers bit should come back? I don't know about leathers...that's rather Cassandra Claire's Draco! 

Arime Setta: I *did* have fun with the school! I'm rather fond of the pictures and I'm in love with the Entrance Hall. 

Brightstar: Thanks for asking the question no one else did...what do *you* think? Are they going to get together? I *cough* do have this story under *cough* Romance... 

Juliet: I agree with you...DRACO FOREVER! 

Prongs: Thanks! Very short review you left me but at least it was filled with good stuff! 

Luinthoron: It looks like you went through and read all of my stories, huh? Glad you liked this one, and glad you liked my parody! 

Cherry: Thanks, no one has said: 'I love your writing' yet but you! Thanks! 

Sila-chan, bezebees, Kay, Kathy, smoo, Emily, EA (if you want another funny story read my 'A Slash Gone Bad': I will write more! 

Sorry if i forgot anyone, I tried to catch you all! ; ) 


	4. A Discovery in the Library

Summary: Draco and Hermione are at an Advanced Magic school, known as FoxGrove's Manor. They're recently arrived and had a welcoming supper, during which Hermione and Draco got into a quarrel. The Professor of Transfiguration (Laurel) has been showing them around, and she's rather mad at Draco and Hermione for getting into this fight. They've been given a map of the school and a list of the rooms, Professors, and land around FoxGrove. When Laurel was escorting Draco and Hermione to their given rooms, Draco discovered some rather odd tapestries... 

A/N: I'm baaack! Well for a while anyway... This is all I've written since the last time I've posted ::hides in a corner, embarrassed:: and I hopefully plan to continue this story!! I need lots of help though, so if you see anything you don't understand or if I have a terrible spelling please tell me!! Thanks soo much to everyone who reviewed -- I love you guys so much! Anyway, enough of me, just read! 

~*@*~ 

Hermione sat on the large canopy bed, collecting her thoughts, and absently petting Crookshanks. _I've barely been here five hours and already I've had a fight with Malfoy. Who, of course, hasn't changed a bit. One of the teachers hates me, she's probably written to Dumbledore who is thoroughly disappointed, in me most likely. I should've known better not to slap Malfoy. But it felt so natural, and I barely even realized I had hit him until he was towering over me. This is going to be a horrible two months…_

~*@*~ (A while earlier…) 

Draco stared at the door that was in front of the blonde Professor, the door that rose from the marble floor in a great wood arch that almost touched the ceiling. There were swirling curved reliefs in the dark brown wood, and very small, at an arms reach, were two golden circles, which were apparently the doorknobs. It looked very enchanting, especially after the beautiful velvet tapestries, and the granite bricks that the castle was made of only enhanced the beauty. 

Draco's attention was distracted from the door and onto Laurel as she swirled around, her eyes meeting his for a quick second and then finding Hermione behind him. "This is your room," she said sharply. She obviously hadn't forgiven either of them yet for their display during the meal earlier. 

The Professor whirled around again, and placed a fingertip on one of the gold circles, and the door swung open to reveal a brightly-lit room that held scarlet carpets, a large pink canopy bed, and chairs of magenta. It greatly resembled a Valentine, but one that wasn't addressed to Draco. That was all he got to see before Laurel turned to face them, and beckoned Hermione to her. 

Hermione came forward abruptly, her shoulder just missing Draco's, and without another glance at him, the two women disappeared into the room. Draco took a step forward, but Laurel stuck her head out and said icily: "You wait here." 

And Draco did. For five minutes he waited, the voices of the two carrying out to him and he got a few wavers of conversation. "…here, very big, it's walk-in", or, "Yes, just down the hall. Lots of books…" and, "Oh, you nevermind that." And then Laurel came out, shutting the door behind her. 

She avoided Draco's eyes as she swept past him, taking a parchment out of her robe pocket that Draco realized was his map of FoxGrove. She mouthed to herself for a moment, and then her head jerked backwards slightly at Draco, and he knew he was to follow as she started on. 

He followed her past the tapestries, and when they came to the three split passageways, she chose the one that was to the right of them, or would've been straight if you were coming up the marble staircase. She took him down a hallway that had windows leading out onto the lawns, windows that skimmed the floor and reached high for the ceiling, letting in stripes of light every five feet. 

They came to another split, and Laurel chose the left, which led down a corridor of pictures. There were torches every once and a while, but between them it was very dark. The portraits weren't very homely either, they held sneering men that were no doubt vampires, and groups of witches attacking Muggles. One picture didn't fit in with the rest though. It held a mermaid, perched on a rock beside a giant white castle, with her golden hair flowing out from behind her, sitting very gracefully as if nothing mattered in the world. When she saw Draco she gave him a smile and giggled. 

Laurel stopped abruptly at the portrait of the mermaid, reached behind the frame, and pulled it open. Behind the picture was a great hole, and Draco could see from the torch light inside that it held a staircase going up. Laurel gave Draco a glance and then turned and went up the staircase, with Draco following her. He heard the portrait swing shut gently behind them. 

The staircase wasn't marble, it was granite, like the walls, and was very steep. When they had finally reached the last step, Draco looked around and saw a door to his left. Straight in front of him was a suit of armor, and to his right was a granite wall with a window. Laurel gestured Draco to pass her, and he did. When he had, he looked back at her, and she thrust his map into his hands and said said, "Your room is behind that door. I shall leave you here with your map. You are allowed to roam around the castle, but remember where the forbidden rooms are. If you are expected to be somewhere, the area will glow yellow on the map and blink, and the time you are supposed to be there will flash in blue." 

She turned sharply and hurried down the stairs, and Draco heard the portrait swing gently shut. He turned to face the door, which was wood like Hermione's, but a great deal smaller. A cool breeze blew on his back, and he looked behind him out the window, and saw nothing but blue. Cautiously avoiding the armor suit, he went over to the large granite window and placed his hands on the sill. And looked down. And down. He was obviously in a tower, the ground was far below him and he could barely make out the people below sitting on the grass. 

He whirled around and went to his door again, reached out, and pulled it open. His eyes swept up the room in one glance: the black carpet, the black chairs, and the black bed. A mirror stood against one wall, reaching up almost to the tip of the high ceiling, and a door was in one corner. Draco supposed it was a closet. His trunk sat underneath a very large window, looking small and forlorn in the giant room. _Black,_ he thought. _I'm home._

~*@*~ 

Hermione hadn't noticed the tapestries on her way to her room, and she didn't notice them on the way out of her room. Both times she had been examining the floor, the guilt on her shoulders weighing her down a considerable amount. And so she did what she always did when she was confused, miserable, or just plain bored. She went to the library. 

The library was a vast chamber, just about the size of the room where they had ate supper, but it was much narrower and notably taller. It was a great deal cozier too, with the scarlet armchairs and the giant blazing fire on the far wall. A desk was placed at the opposite wall, and a person sat behind it. Hermione didn't get a good look at him or her however, due to the enormous book that they were reading. He or she didn't notice Hermione's presence, or if they did, they masked it well. 

Hermione's first impression of the room was Wow. Sure, the Hogwarts library was very nice, but it was about a fourth the size of this room. And the Hogwarts library was full of bookshelves lined along the floor, while this one had none. Instead, books were stacked upon the walls, all four of them, piled from ceiling to floor. Sliding ladders were the way to get the books, Hermione supposed, because there was no way you could have _reached_ them. The library, being warm, cozy, and, obviously, full of books, was immediately Hermione's favorite room, despite the fact that she had been in there for two minutes, and besides the fact that she had only seen three other rooms beside this one. 

She stood there in the doorway: her eyes raised to the ceiling and exhaling rather hard, until the librarian finally set down the book, and walked over to Hermione. He, yes, the librarian was a male, looked in his mid-thirties, had very dark brown hair, good natured brown eyes, and a rather handsome face upon which an amused look was placed. He didn't look as if he belonged in a library; he looked like he belonged on the back of a motorcycle. Hermione quickly shut her mouth, and felt a flush rise to her cheeks. 

The man smiled. "Well, you're either lost, or you're here for a book. I can help you with either choice, though I would prefer the latter. Most children that visit me here are indeed lost, despite the rather crafty map I have made up for them, and never stay for more than five minutes, during that time while I steer them right. Well then, where do you want to go?" He said this all with an amused look and Hermione couldn't help but thinking he had a rather nice voice; it was natural, not deep and not high, and Hermione was reminded greatly of Harry's godfather. 

"It's very judgemental of you to suppose that I'm here because I'm lost, because for a fact, I'm here to read," Hermione heard herself say, and she smiled at the man, who was now grinning. 

"I suppose it was judgemental, and I'm delighted you're here Miss…" 

"Hermione Granger." 

"Well, Hermione, what kind of book were you looking for? Are you here for research, novels, poetry, fiction, fact, school, illegal work, or maybe just a light reading book?" He said these all rather fast and caused Hermione to blink. "Oh, I'm Jonathan Ericson, but call me Jonathan." 

"What were you reading?" Hermione's eyes traveled from Jonathan's face over to the broad black book on his desk. Jonathan's eyes followed Hermione's, and he grinned. He walked over to the desk, and Hermione followed. 

"This," he said with a grin, "is not a magical book. This, in fact, is about motorcycles." 

"You have a motorcycle?" Hermione asked, and she was beginning to believe that Jonathan was the kind of person who would surprise you with every turn. 

"Yes." 

"Does it fly?" Hermione smirked, her eyes twinkling. 

"No, but I do know a person with a flying motorcycle. My old friend Sirius-" 

"Black. I know all about Sirius's flying motorcyle. How are _you_ a friend of Sirius though?" 

Jonathan looked rather taken aback of Hermione's knowledge of Sirius and how very calm she was with the subject. Hermione, it seemed, was not a normal girl. 

"I should probably ask you the same thing. But I knew Sirius after he had just graduated from Hogwarts, and started a shop that sold things like motorcycles. I met him there. Of course, that was all before Voldemort was at large. And before Sirius was sent to Azkaban. I couldn't believe Sirius would do such a-" 

"But he didn't. He's innocent," Hermione interrupted, and brought her lips up into a thin line. 

Jonathan again looked surprised, and he tilted his head slightly, opened his mouth and said, "Do you want to sit down?" 

~*@*~ 

_Dear Hermione, _

I know you've only been gone for a few hours, but I think you should know what happened after you and Malfoy left… 

Draco and Hermione disappeared quite suddenly, and the room was swallowed up in silence. Lucius was glaring hard at the portkey, as if it was its fault that his son had been swooped off to a summer magic school with Hermione. His gaze rose up to Dumbledore, who stared back with twinkling eyes. 

"I hope that my son will not be surrounded by Mudbloods at this school of yours, Dumbledore. I should hope he will come back highly learned, and not worse off than he started. Where is this school anyway?" Lucius said coldly, and Narcissa looked away and looked rather ashamed when Lucius had spat out 'Mudblood'. 

"It's in England, Lucius, and that's all I can say. I assure you your son will come back learned, and he will probably be a great deal more sure of himself as well," Dumbledore replied emotionlessly, and Lucius stood up. 

"Come, Narcissa. Angelina. We're leaving," Lucius strode past Dumbledore, and shot Ron, Harry, and the Grangers a rather nasty look as he passed, and it was all Harry could do to keep Ron from pouncing on him. The Grangers looked fightened, Narcissa looked embarrassed, and Angelina threw Ron and Harry a smile and waved behind her back as Lucius pushed her out the door with Narcissa. This left the Grangers, Ron and Harry alone with Dumbledore. 

"Do you think Hermione will be safe with him?" Ron hissed and glared at the door that the Malfoys had gone out of. 

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Mr. Weasley, but you and Harry can keep in touch with her via owl. I'm also in touch with the school, and I'll make sure to keep you posted on the happenings," Dumbledore gave Ron a kind smile, and Mr. Granger stood up and extended his hand to Dumbledore, who shook it. 

"Thank you so much, Hermione was thrilled about going, and I'm sure it's a wonderful opportunity for her." 

"Yes, thank you," Mrs. Granger said with a smile, and she also shook Dumbledore's hand. Ron and Harry stood up and gave Dumbledore a smile and a goodbye before they promptly walked out the door, followed a minute after by the Grangers. 

"I wonder how long it'll be before they get into a quarrel…" Ron wondered aloud and was smothered by three, "Rons!". 

_It wasn't all that exciting, but just in case you were curious, I thought you might like to know. So, Dumbledore's watching you, if that helps you any. *Have* you gotten into a fight with Malfoy yet? And how's the library? _

Harry 

~*@*~ 

Draco sat on his bed, holding a letter from Angelina. She had written to him right after he left, and although he would never admit it, he was thankful she was at his house, taking care of things. She was, even though of course he would never voice it, his favorite cousin. When they were younger she had been the one that he would fall down the stairs with, the one that would explore the dungeons with him and would cast spells on the maids, just to see them scream. Draco smiled at the memories, and then lowered his eyes down to the letter again. 

_Draco- _

Things went very well after you left, believe me. First, your father went on rage and shouted about lousy muggles, right in front of those Grangers, I thought it was very rude, and I think Aunt Narcissa did too, but that's not the point. Anyway, he went on rage and then Dumbledore said something about "He will come back well learned, and more sure of himself,", he meant you, and he wouldn't tell your dad where the school was. It made him real mad, your dad I mean, so he grabbed Narcissa's arm and started dragging her out of the room, and he was like: "Come on Angelina," all mean like that, and so I came really fast after him, but not before he had shot really angry glares at those two boys and the couple. 

Anyway, he dragged your mother and me out of the school and we port-keyed real fast to your car and then all the way home he kept mumbling to himself, it was a really boring trip without you, Draco. I even found some of our letters, so I read them to myself and it wasn't as boring, except for Uncle Lucius asked me what I was giggling about. I told him that I was thinking about him glaring at those muggles and how scared their faces got, and I think he believed me, because he left me alone and kind of gave a proud sigh. 

How's that little brunette girl? She seems nice, except for she's Mudblood and all. What's the castle look like? I looked it up in some of your dad's old books, because right after we went home he went to his secret study, but it's not really secret because I know where it is. Do you? 

Anyway, I went to the library and looked up that school in some of those books, and it looks really old. In some of the pictures there's this man with yellow hair standing infront of the castle, he kind of looks like your dad, and he's always surrounded by people in black, they kind of look like Death Eaters. I don't think it's your dad though, because he's really apprehensive about you going to this school, so I don't think its him. I better go, your owl is getting anxious, so goodbye! You had better write me back, too, because I know where your room is and I can blackmail you really bad because of what I've found already. Bye! 

Angelina 

Draco's owl was sitting on the windowsill looking completely exhausted, and Draco went and got it a bowl of water. To think, Angelina had already found things to blackmail him with! He really could see where she was related to Lucius… 

~*@*~ 

A/N: There's six more pages for you! I'm not really quite sure where my story's going next, and I'm likely to change a few things before I'm finished, so please forgive me! I _have_ decided to change my name to "Erin Faith", so if you're looking for me and don't want to search through all the other countless "Erin"s, just type in "Erin Faith"! (You can also find me the regular way with just typing in "Erin"; I'm the still one with a (5) after her name! Sorry for any inconveniences! Again, if you see any grammar errors, or spelling, e-mail me! Thanks again for reviewing! 

P.S. Charity -- Still a Draco/Hermione fic, but for you she was sitting _comfortably_ on Harry's lap! LoL, sorry, just couldn't resist! 

Emaeleigha: Sorry if you see Angelina from the Quiddich team, that's not the picture I was going for at all! Think Draco, except for with brown hair and lots of humor (oh, and think _girl_, too!) 

Thanks to everyone who loved the boxers, I like them too! 

Romance coming...well not soon, but it is coming! 

Also -- I would _like_ to have a beta, but, as I mentioned before, my beta would have to be extremely patient, because I don't update a lot, or on schedule! Anyway, e-mail me if you're interested! 

Does anyone know a great Harry Potter research page? Where there's maybe a message board or a list of people you can e-mail your Harry Potter book questions to? I really need one of those, because I'm not really feeling like searching through all four books to find the answer I need! Thanks, guys! 

Okay, that's it for my comments, but I might be updating "All I Can Say Is Aloha", soon! Look for it! ; ) 


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